This
article first appeared in the North Haven Courier and won
Honorable Mention for Excellence In Journalism in the 2009
Awards Competition sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists,
Connecticut Chapter.

Photo by Elizabeth Albright

As director of the TOW alternative
high school in North Haven-so named by the students themselves as
the acronym for "The Other Way"-June Pinto is living a dream come
true. She stands before a bulletin board decorated by one of her
students-a 15 year-old who is pregnant-to prompt the other students
to explore the theme "Who I Am and Why I Am Who I Am." Photo by Jason J. Marchi/The Courier

June Pinto: The Joy of Saving At-Risk
Kids

By Jason J. Marchi, Courier
Correspondent

From 7:45 a.m. until 1:15 p.m. each school day, a
group of 15 at-risk high school students (ranging in ages from 14 to
18) spends its classroom time in the nurturing environment of an
alternate educational setting called the TOW (short for "The Other
Way") school. The school is a safe haven where the students can learn
and excel at their own pace without the competitive clamor of the
regular high school environment.

They have this quiet place-tucked behind the
North Haven High School (NHHS) campus-thanks to teachers like June
Pinto who feel that every student, no matter what his or her personal
challenge to learning may be, has the right to a full high school
education, not to mention a happy and successful life.

If you stop and think that during the average
human lifespan a person will spend some 60 years as an adult-as
compared to just 12 as a child and seven as a teenager-you realize
that in order for an adult to live those numerous decades happily and
successfully, the foundation set during one's youth must be strong and
proper.

June Pinto has lived with this understanding
for the 30 years she's worked as a high school teacher, 28 of those at
NHHS-and during her career she's always found a way to work with
at-risk youth while handling her basic role as a teacher certified in
both English and history.

Yet, during June's career, she admits, "I've
never taught above-average kids. If a kid had a serious problem they
would move him into my classroom" and she welcomed the challenge.

Long before there was a formalized
alternative program to help at-risk youth, June took it upon herself
to spend the next 15 years staying after school from 2:30 to 5 p.m. to
keep these kids from slipping through the cracks.

"I've been fighting for an alternate school
for years," June explains. "I took every course I could on youth
at-risk hoping that one day I would end my career as a director of an
alternative school."

That wish came true when June was handed the
reins of the TOW school at the start of the 2009-2010 school year.

June's predecessor made early strides in
bringing structure to the program that started three years ago as a
special education school, but it was June's energy and enthusiasm that
provided the next most important step to building a school tailored
specifically toward helping those students lacking in social graces
and facing individualized study or learning challenges.

"This program is not a dumping ground," June
points out. "This is a school where kids who have trouble can succeed
through a different approach to learning. We build character [in
addition to] academics. And we hope to catch those kids who, for one
reason or another, are being shortchanged when it comes to people
believing in them and inspiring them to reach for a better life."

In less than a year, the program has made
such significant strides in the lives of the students accepted into
the school (yes, students must apply to enter) that Superintendent of
Schools Sara-Jane Querfeld has fielded calls from pleased parents
wanting to know more about the TOW school. Querfeld has told June and
her staff, "You're saving kids," which is music to June's ears.

"It's wonderful getting up in the morning. We
love these kids and even on our worst day I never go home saying this
isn't the career for me," June says, adding, "This is where I want to
be."